Our guest, Mrs. Rebiya Kadeer, is known as the “mother of the Uyghur nation”. She is the acknowledged global leader of the Uyghur people - a community of over 15 million living primarily in the East Turkestan region of China where this largely Muslim community has been subjected to discrimination, persecution, mass incarceration and cultural and religious oppression at the hands of the Chinese government.
With the help of an interpreter, Mrs. Kadeer spoke about the increase in persecution being experienced in East Turkestan, the Government’s efforts to intimidate her into silence by targeting her family members who are still in China, and why the US government should apply the Global Magnitsky Act to the Chinese official responsible for the outrages taking place in East Turkestan.
Statement on Rohingya Massacre Reporters Trial
The world relies on brave journalists to tell the stories of those with no voice. One of the most serious global human rights crisis points happening today is in Myanmar, as the Rohingya Muslim minority is terrorized by the state military. It is an affront to the Rule of Law that the two Reuters journalists who simply reported on the growing massacre will now face trial and could be sentenced to over a decade in prison. It is especially shocking that Aung San Suu Kyi, who herself once suffered under a regime that ignored the Rule of Law, would be so compliant in allowing this kangaroo court case to move forward. We call on the Myanmar Government to release these journalists and focus on the most important issue at hand: restoring the rights and freedoms of the Rohingya people.
Lantos Foundation Joins Zou Demei Appeal to President Trump
International Human Rights Committee Release - Pakistan : Free and Fair Elections Must Include Ahmadi Voting Rights
The Lantos Foundation joins leading NGO's to call upon the government of Pakistan to stop the discriminatory provisions in the electoral law of Pakistan that deny Ahmadis the right to vote due to their religious beliefs.
Russian Council for Civil Society and Human Rights Calls for Investigation into Jehovah's Witnesses Prosecutions
In a rare bit of good news, the Russian Council for Civil Society and Human Rights has called for an investigation into the legality of a number of criminal prosecutions of Jehovah's Witnesses in Russia. This peaceful community has been subjected to outrageous persecution in Russia. Perhaps the injustice is becoming too much even for the Russians. Click the image below to read the translated article from The Council Under The President of the Russian Federation for the Development of Civil Society and Human Rights.
Lantos Foundation Statement on World Refugee Day
Today we commemorate World Refugee Day which marks the historic adoption of the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status Of Refugees. This global treaty recognized in international law the moral duty of nations towards those who face cruel persecution in their countries as well as individuals who find themselves driven from their homes due to war, famine, or natural disasters. This treaty represented a giant step along humanity's road to building a more just and decent world for all people. And yet the principles underlying this treaty are ancient, venerable, and live in the hearts of people of goodwill in every nation and culture.
The ethical and religious call to welcome the stranger, give help to the widow and the fatherless, and to be our brother's keeper, truly speaks to the "better angels of our nature" and in 2018 it calls to us more insistently than ever. The United Nations estimates that 68.5 million people are currently displaced from their homes due to persecution, war, poverty, and other causes. This staggering figure represents the largest global refugee population since the 2nd World War. How individual nations meet this challenge will be a test to not only our resilience and generosity, but in the deepest sense, our national character.
On this World Refugee Day, the Lantos Foundation calls upon governments and citizens to reject the siren call of ultra-nationalism and xenophobia. We urge nations to remember the lessons of history; that we can not and must not avert our eyes from the terrible crises afflicting our fellow human beings. We must remember that if we ignore the suffering of our brothers and sisters, their tragedies will, in time, find their way to our doorsteps. For reasons of both compassion and self-interest we must engage our hearts, minds, and strength to alleviate the refugee crisis across the globe. We should also remember that grateful and talented refugees have immeasurably strengthened the lands that have welcomed them. The late Congressman Tom Lantos, a most eloquent and passionate advocate for human rights, was one such immigrant to America and his gratitude and contributions to his adopted country were both larger than life. In the spirit of Congressman Lantos, we commemorate World Refugee Day and proclaim the shared humanity of all people and our solemn duty to stand with those who have been driven from their homes.
Lantos Foundation Statement on Withdrawal from UN Human Rights Council
The Trump administration's decision to withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC), sends the terrible signal that America is abdicating its global leadership on human rights at a time when we can ill afford to do so. Our nation's leadership on human rights is already being called into question as President Trump has expressed admiration for the brutal dictator of North Korea and a new zero tolerance policy at the southern border has led to the intolerable separation of young children from their parents.
The Lantos Foundation agrees with Ambassador Haley that the Council has shown an unconscionable and chronic bias against Israel and too often its actions have, in her words, made "a mockery of human rights." Nonetheless, we believe that we can accomplish more to advance the noble cause of human rights by keeping our place at the table and not simply walking away from it. Only by remaining engaged can the United States use its influence to push back against the abuses of the UNHRC and defend vital human rights in countries ranging from Iran and North Korea to Myanmar and Syria.
In 2006, Congressman Tom Lantos called on the Bush Administration to refrain from boycotting the newly established Human Rights Council, saying the decision to do so, would be a "self-inflicted wound." At the time, he wrote that American diplomats should leverage the tools of the Council to "dismantle the myth of moral equivalency among states that has long polluted the UN human rights efforts." We think Congressman Lantos had it right and are following his legacy in urging the Trump administration to reconsider his decision to withdraw the United States from the UNHRC.
Lantos Foundation Statement on Human Rights in North Korea
As the world waits breathlessly on the outcome of the historic Trump/Kim Summit, it is vital that we not forget the horrific state of human rights in the Hermit Kingdom. The United Nations 2014 report on North Korea made it clear that "gross and systemic" violations of rights are occurring in North Korea at a level unmatched by any other regime in the world. The depth and depravity of abuse within North Korea is, as the UN said, without "parallel in the contemporary world".
The Lantos Foundation sincerely hopes for a successful summit and, like all groups of goodwill, we recognize the immense benefit to humanity that would result from the successful de-nuclearization of the Korean peninsula. We fervently hope this can be achieved. At the same time, we urge President Trump and Secretary Pompeo not to sideline the urgent human rights crises that exist in that nation. As a first step they should press vigorously for North Korea to close the notorious labor and prison gulags where over 100,000 prisoners are held in appalling conditions. Often entire families, including small children are imprisoned for the alleged "crimes" of a single family member. Over the past two decades it is estimated that 400,000 people have died in these camps from starvation, disease, torture and execution.
We believe that lasting peace and reconciliation on the Korean peninsula can only be achieved if the United States employs its "maximum pressure" strategy on every front, including human rights. A peace achieved by turning a blind eye to the abhorrent human rights practices of the North Korean regime will prove to be an illusory and false peace. For the sake of our own national security and our moral integrity we must insist that North Korea begin a process of de-brutalization, hand in hand with its promised de-nuclearization.
Dr. Yang Jianli's Speech, Candle Light Vigil Commemorating the 29th Anniversary of 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre
Ladies and gentlemen, dear friends, I am honored and humbled to stand together with you tonight to remember our brothers and sisters who were killed in the Tiananmen Massacre.
In the spring of 1989, college students in China led a movement calling for freedom and democracy. They asked for more transparency and less corruption from their government. Their peaceful protest soon gained widespread support, attracting intellectuals, journalists, and labor leaders. Millions of people in Beijing joined them, and almost all classes of Chinese society-from all over China-sympathized with their aims.
On the night of June 3, 1989, PLA tanks and troops swept into the square and opened fire on students.
Tiananmen was an event that changed my life and the lives of many others. I was at Tiananmen when the tanks rolled in. I had been studying Mathematics at the UC Berkeley when I went back to China to join the student movement. On June 4, I saw my countrymen crushed beneath tank treads and felled by machine-gun fire. I was among the lucky who survived and escaped. I managed to avoid arrest and return to the United States.
Since that day, I have committed my life to fighting for a China that will not ride roughshod over the fundamental human rights of its people.
The demonstrations of 1989 were an expression of a spirit that has always been present in the people of China-a spirit that is present in all of humanity. The struggle that began in Tiananmen Square 29 years ago continues today. It gave birth to an era of the rise of human rights consciousness among the Chinese people. For the first time in history, the Chinese government faced massive international criticism for its human rights record. Rising dissent at home and pressure from abroad have together helped bring about significant developments in the area of human rights, though much work remains to be done.
Tonight I ask you to help ensure that the spirit of June 4 continues to change China. The noble souls of the Chinese people who died in the crackdown are not yet fully honored-not because so many are unknown, but because the goals of their sacrifice are still suppressed by the CCP regime. Those of us here know that honoring our fallen brothers and sisters with words alone falls terribly short if we do not bring those words to life by honoring them equally with deeds worthy of their sacrifice. We must persist in our efforts to replace lies with truth, atrocity with humanity, and tyranny with democracy. Let us stand together with those many many individuals in China who bravely put themselves forward as obstacles against the forces of autocracy. Their fight is our fight, and we need only repay their courage with our love, support, and unified engagement to see their victory through to its rightful end: a just and free China.
